Jazz Congress, the unique conference that brings together members of the global jazz community to nurture the bond between artists, media professionals, and industry leaders, today announced that Grammy award-winning musician John Clayton will receive the 2025 Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award. Clayton’s son, pianist and composer Gerald Clayton, will present him with the award at the 2025 Jazz Congress, which will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, and Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located at Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York.
Additionally, Jazz Congress announced more panels and events scheduled to take place at the 2025 gathering.
For more information and to register, visit jazzcongress.org.
John Clayton is a renowned jazz composer, arranger, conductor, producer, educator, mentor, and extraordinary bassist. His professional career began at age 19 when he worked on a television series produced by composer Henry Mancini. Clayton has been a member of some of the most seminal big bands in jazz history, including the Count Basie Orchestra, as well as notable groups led by Monty Alexander and Diana Krall. For five years, Clayton served as the principal bassist for the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in the Netherlands, during which he composed and arranged music for legends such as Basie, Krall, Whitney Houston, Nancy Wilson, Natalie Cole, and The Tonight Show Orchestra. In 2007, he won a Grammy for his arrangement of “I’m Gonna Live ‘till I Die,” performed by Queen Latifah. Notably, his arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” helped propel Whitney Houston’s iconic 1990 Super Bowl performance, which has since become a platinum-selling record. Clayton’s recordings with the Clayton Brothers, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Milt Jackson, Monty Alexander, Count Basie, and many others are numerous. The Grammy winner, eight-time Grammy nominee, and devoted educator serves as artistic consultant at Vail Jazz Workshop, president of the International Bassists Society, artistic director of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Sarasota Jazz Festival, and Centrum Jazz Workshop, and teacher at USC Thornton School of Music.
In addition to the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award Ceremony and the previously announced “Roy Haynes Centennial” panel, Jazz Congress 2025 features panels on gender; technology and the arts; international festival programming; mentorship; new voices in Latin jazz; and more. The 2025 conference hosts annual favorites, including the “Jukebox Jury” and “Ask Us Anything” interactive workshops. A welcome reception on Jan. 8 gives attendees an opportunity to network with colleagues from all over the world.
Jazz Congress 2025 aims to discuss all facets of the modern jazz scene. Panels are designed to cover a broad variety of topics that reflect the current state of the jazz industry. To ensure Jazz Congress allows different voices to shape conversations, organizers have received ideas for panels and sessions from the community and will be implementing select topics into Jazz Congress 2025.
Additional panels, workshops, keynote address, and other conference events will be announced shortly.
Jazz Congress 2-Day Pass Pricing and Registration Dates:
- $175 – today through November 12, 2024
- $200 - November 13 to December 31, 2024
- $250 - January 1 – 8, 2025
Jazz Congress 1-Day Pass Pricing and Registration Dates:
- $125 – today through November 12, 2024
- $150 - November 13 to December 31, 2024
- $200 - January 1 – 8, 2025
Please contact Customer Service for inquiries about registration. Email [email protected] or call 212.258.9800.
Jazz Congress was founded in 2018, originally as a partnership with JazzTimes who in the past had produced or co-produced numerous jazz gatherings such as the JazzTimes Convention, the IAJE industry track and the Jazz Connect Conference. Since that time, Jazz at Lincoln Center has brought considerable experience and resources to present an industry gathering that not only drew upon the past, but also pointed toward the future. Over the years, Jazz Congress has brought together jazz artists and industry professionals from all over the world.
The Jazz Congress Advisory Board includes Gene Dobbs Bradford, Terri Lyne Carrington, Chanel Enriquez, Stefon Harris, Karen Kennedy, Don Lucoff, Riley Mulherkar, Katie Simon, Denny Stilwell, and Helen Sung.
Press Inquiries:
Zooey Tidal Jones
Senior Director, Public Relations and External Communications
Jazz at Lincoln Center
212.258.9821
[email protected]